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Melissa McCarthy: When the World Needs a New “SPY”

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Susan Cooper may be out of her element. But not out
of her league. Susan Cooper (Melissa
McCarthy) is an unassuming, deskbound CIA analyst, and the unsung hero behind
the Agency’s most dangerous missions. But when her partner (Jude Law) falls off
the grid and another top agent (Jason Statham) is compromised, she volunteers
to go deep undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer, and
prevent a global disaster.

Blessed
with freakish memory, Cooper labors in a dreary sub-basement office, serving as
the eyes and ears (and pining for the heart) of super agent Bradley Fine – a
charming but self-absorbed fop who manages to complete his missions while
keeping every hair in place.

In
latching onto her first spy mission, McCarthy’s Susan Cooper must first let go
of insecurity and self-doubt while mustering the nerve to abandon her desk at
Langley (CIA Headquarters) to tangle with an assortment of well-quaffed
European baddies.

Says
McCarthy: “Susan’s always had ability,
and is great technically and tactically, but she lacked confidence. Now her
field experiences and loyalty to Jude’s character, Bradley Fine, begin to bring
out her full potential. She discovers talents she didn’t know she had.”

Teaming
with Melissa McCarthy for the third time, following their smash hits
“Bridesmaids” and “The Heat,” writer-director Paul Feig this time adds a
planeload of action to their trademark comedy and sets the story in gorgeous
European locales. The bustling,
unfamiliar environments of such famed capitals as Rome, Paris and Budapest add
to Susan’s disorienting transition into the cloak-and-dagger fieldwork of
international espionage.

In
developing a palette for the film, Feig, along with director of photography
Robert Yeoman and production designer Jefferson Sage, was inspired by James
Bond movies. They set out to make a comedy in the visual style of those iconic
films, with sweeping shots, striking backdrops and convincing action sequences. Yeoman says, “Typically in comedies the
lighting is bright and flat, but Paul wanted it darker, with more contrast, to
emphasize some of the danger and risks in the shadowy world of espionage. There
is a big scope to the location shots.”

“Spy”
shot primarily in Budapest, Hungary, which also doubles for Rome and Paris. The
city’s striking and varied architecture allowed Sage to utilize interesting
landmarks and unique neighborhood characteristics to distinguish between the
three capitals. Buda, located on the west side of the Danube, is hilly, with
winding cobblestone streets that provide an effective cheat for Rome.
Meanwhile, abundant natural trees and vegetation effectively serve to soften
the location backdrops for Paris, which filmmakers wanted keep lighter and
wider in tonality.

“Spy”
opens May 21 from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.